New world, new problems
by SatAMNerd15
Summary: A year after the defeat of Robotnik, Mobius is peaceful. But how can a young kitsune come to a world he's never known, even after spending all of his life fighting for it? and when a new, deadlier enemy emerges, can the freedom fighters fight on?
1. A new and better world?

Here's a new Sonic fan fiction, not having anything to do with my previous ones since they sucked big time (at least in my opinion. No offence to KilaTails). Anyways, please read and review.

New world, new problems.

Sonic grabbed Tails' arm and ran as fast as he could away from the portal. Robotnik was gone, but he wasn't going down without taking Sonic with him.

"Tails! Fly!"

Tails revved up his Tails and lifted off the ground, being sucked backwards into the portal to the void as soon as he got a few feet off the air.

"Sonic! Help!"

Sonic immediately turned back and ran for his friend. He grabbed Tails' leg, spun around and then threw him as hard as he could away from the portal, out of its reach. Tails landed with a thump on the ground.

"Sonic! Come on! You can make it! I know you can! You always make it!"  
Tails cheered for his hero, who was trying as desperately as he could to get away from the portal. But without a power ring, he knew he wouldn't make it. He looked over at Tails, with tears forming in his eyes.

"Keep on juicin' big guy…."

At that, Sonic stopped his attempts of escape and allowed the void to swallow him, leaving a distressed fox cub crying his eyes out.

All the children filed through the corridors towards the exam hall where they would take their end of year exams. All of them were worried, but they managed to cover it up amongst their friends with jokes. Every so often they would see a teacher watching them as they walked by, which assured them that they were going the right way.

As they sat down in their appointed seats and stared at the bulky test paper in front of them, hundreds of questions went through their heads.

'Did I study enough?'

'What happens if I fail?'

'I wonder if the guy in front of me knows what he's doing.'

Fortunately for them, ten minutes into the test they took comfort in the fact that whatever happened, their friends would be there to support them. Unfortunately, for one student this wasn't the case.

"Finished!"

Rosie walked towards this student, collected his paper and led him out of the hall. He stared at the scowling faces of his fellow students as he walked past them, but took comfort when Rosie smiled warmly at him, as she used to do in the days of the freedom fighters.

She closed the door to the exam room and gave the student a congratulatory pat on the back.

"In record time as well! Well done Miles!"

The young two tailed fox smiled at her and waved as he ran down the corridor towards the school entrance, where he knew the royal car would be waiting for him.

Tails was now eleven years old. After Robotnik and Sonic had vanished into the void, the rest of the freedom fighters had begun to rebuild Mobotropolis. Although Sally, Tails, Bunnie and the others were completely grief stricken, they took pride in the fact that he hadn't given up until Robotnik was history. They also had other things to worry about, including the Mobians still under Robotnik's control.

This had started roughly. Because they still didn't have a working de-robotisizer they had been forced to deactivate all of the robotisized Mobians while they began rebuilding the city.

Within a few weeks they had the palace completely rebuilt, as well as all of Mobotropolis' main domestic areas. This had happened not a moment too soon, as Rotor then announced that his de-robotisizer was complete and had been proved efficient when he managed to De-Robotisize Bunnie Rabbot, his new fiancée.

Over the next few months, the restored Mobians aided the freedom fighters in completely restoring Mobotropolis and after the first year, it was as if Robotnik had never even taken over. All of Mobius' problems finished completely on the day that Sally was officially made the queen of Mobotropolis, choosing Bunnie as her lady in waiting.

Unfortunately, there was still one problem left over after the war: Tails. His parents hadn't been found amongst the de-robotisized Mobians and so he had been left without any proper guardians. The plan had originally been that if they couldn't find Tails' parents, Sonic would become Tails legal guardian. However, with him lost to the void Tails didn't have anywhere to go. It was lucky that Tails had Sally on his side as well. She had announced publicly that she would officially adopt the young fox:

"_I have chosen to bring up this child and show him the beauty of Mobotropolis that he never had the chance to experience. Any of you who think it is royally just to turn out an orphan onto the streets may want to bring back Robotnik, who may have agreed. However, in bringing back the previous order of truth and justice this shall never happen and we intend to accept this fox into the royal household forever."_

Of course, at the time Tails was still too young to fully understand the politics of what was going on. Incidentally, one of the only things he understood apart from Robotnik being gone was that he had suddenly become a prince.

Afterwards there had been a lot more changes to deal with. First of all, he had been asked to attend a private school after the inventor of the de-robotisizer had officially recommended him. Secondly, he had come to realise that most children his age weren't as intellectually advanced as him and thirdly he realised that having two tails really made you stand out.

Since he started school Tails hadn't made any friends whatsoever. De-robotisized children were still children and they singled him out for having two tails. He had been bullied a lot but because of his freedom fighter combat training the worst he had to deal with was name calling and being completely ignored. However, things at the school weren't all that bad. He found his lessons easy and Rosie had been given the temporary job as principal of the school while she continued to help advice Sally while she ruled.

Over all, the new Mobotropolis had treated Tails quite well. But without friends his own age it was quite hard to keep a smile on his face, at least at school.

Bunnie Rabbot greeted the young fox with a hug as he left the school. She opened the door to the car for him and slid inside after him before the car drove away.

"Way ta go Sugar! Ah was expectin ta have ta wait a little longer than ten minutes for ya ta finish that exam, but ah guess that most eleven year olds weren't taught by Sally – girl and Rotor."

Bunnie smiled at the fox, who gave a weak smile back, trying to hide his real feelings.

"Sugar, ah've known ya since you were a little fox cub and ah can tell when you're lying. Now come on, tell aunt Bunnie what's wrong."

Tails sighed.

"I don't know Bunnie. It's just that…."

Bunnie didn't need to hear anymore. She could tell by the look on the young fox's face what the problem was.

"Trouble at school?"

Tails nodded.

"None of them like me Bunnie. They keep calling me a freak because of my tails."

Bunnie didn't say anything. She just grabbed the young fox and hugged him tightly.

"Ya don't need ta worry about people like that Sugar. Now let's think about it. You're super smart, you live with the queen of Mobotropolis and ya can fly. Does that make you a freak?"

Tails started crying. He burrowed his face in Bunnie's fur and nodded.

"Now listen sugar, people like that need someone ta pick on because something in their life aint workin out. Either that or they're just stupid. Let's face it Sugar, if the queen of Mobius adopted you and the blue streak loved you enough to make you his little brother, how much can a bunch of kids knows if they wanna pick on you?"

Tails stared up at Bunnie. His face was wet with tears. She reached into her pocket for a tissue and cleaned him up as they drove through the palace gates.

"So buck up."

Hope you liked it. If not, I'm glad you read it anyway :) please leave reviews.


	2. Once a fighter, always a fighter

New World, new problems part 2.

As Tails sat there crying on the floor, Sally and the other remaining freedom fighters ran into the room.

"Tails!"

Sally ran towards him and grabbed him, her face wet with tears."  
"We thought you and Sonic were done for…"

Tails was silent. He looked up to where the portal had been, still expecting Sonic to appear suddenly, laughing.

"Fooled ya!"

"Tails? Where's Sonic?"

Tails snapped. He struggled to get free from Sally as he screamed. Bunnie ran towards them and tried to restrain him.

"Sugar, what's gotten into you?"

"This is a dream! It's all a dream! Sonic can't be gone!"

Tails kicked sally in the face, causing her to let go. He revved up his Tails and sped as fast he could out of the room.

"You're not gone! You're not gone!"

"Aarghh!"

Tails woke up in a cold sweat. He looked frantically around, trying to find the demons in his memories that seemed to be toying with him. He switched on his light and found he was back in his room, no more crying, no more screaming.

He tried to breathe calmly, going over in his mind over and over again all that had happened to him since that day. Sonic wouldn't have wanted him to be unhappy like this.

He looked over at his alarm clock; it was only five am, but Tails knew he wouldn't be getting back to sleep. He got out of bed quietly, making sure not to make too much noise even though he knew that in the palace, nobody would hear him if he ran.

In her room, Sally was having trouble sleeping herself. Being in charge of the freedom fighters had been difficult. But ruling over a whole city was something else entirely. She didn't have a clue how her father had managed it before his exile.

Yawning as she got out of bed, she slipped on her night gown and went to get herself a glass of water. She had servants to help her, but having spent most of her life in Knothole she would rather get up and get it herself than wake someone else up in the middle of the night.

The corridors of the palace always used to scare her when she had been a child, at least from what she could remember. The paintings and sculptures n the walls created shadows that seemed to be coming after her and she always ended up running to her parent's bedroom.

"How on earth did I manage to be so brave against _real_ monsters?" she thought to herself.

It took her about half an hour to reach the kitchen. Royal dormitories were on the top level of the palace, while the kitchens were only on the first. And, still being in rough shape despite the restoration, Rotor still hadn't gotten the elevators working.

Sally quickly drank down the water and turned to leave, when she heard a sound behind her.

"Where do we keep the milk? It was a lot easier in Knothole when the fridge wasn't as big as the wall…"

"Top shelf Tails."

Tails turned around and saw Sally standing before him, smiling.

"Oh. Hey Aunt Sally."

Sally couldn't help but laugh. She knew that no matter what an adoption paper said, she would always just be 'Aunt Sally'. Then again, she could always hope. She had been looking after Tails ever since he had been brought to Knothole after all.

"I didn't know you had trouble sleeping too Tails. Wanna talk about it?"

Tails shook his head. Everyone knew that he had been the worst hit when Sonic had gone. He hadn't even gone running since that day. Sally walked forward and gave him the 'funny kiss', causing Tails to let out a small laugh. That was another thing that probably wouldn't change.

"You're still thinking about him too huh?"

Tails nodded.

"I just can't believe he came back for me sally. He could have saved himself…."

Tails felt more tears forming in his eyes. Sally smiled, and then stroked her hand through his hair.

"Now why would he do that? You know Sonic would never have abandoned you like that Tails. None of us would. Besides, he probably wouldn't have wanted to see you like this. We shouldn't be sad that Sonic is gone, we should be happy that someone like him was ever here."

Tails looked dup at her, smiling through his tears. He ran forward and hugged her, which she quickly returned.

"Thanks' Aunt Sally."

"No problem."

Tails jumped up and kissed Sally on the cheek, before making his way back to his room. Sally smiled as he walked off, muttering under her breath.

"Yeah, no problem… son."

The next day, Tails had chosen to walk to school instead of getting a ride with Bunnie. Even after one year, he still hadn't seen much of the city. He looked around, amazed at how many people there were. Rotor had really done a good job.

Unfortunately, one gang of people in particular caught sight of the young fox as he waved to the people as they passed him by.

"Looks like the two tailed freak can pass of the 'cuteness' act with those grown ups."

The three friends walked up to him and grabbed his shoulder, spinning him round to face them.

"Hey there _Prince._"

The three friends, who liked to call themselves team 'Fang' (but where usually just called immature by everyone else) were a badger, a chameleon and a panther. Indeed, although they were only twelve years old, biologically of course despite having gone through the robotisizer, caused a lot of trouble for any kids who they saw as weird, which meant Tails was usually at the top of their list.

"What do you guys want?"  
Tails started to back away, knowing that he wouldn't be getting out of this one without someone getting a few bruises and a bloody nose.

"Just a little talk. Or are you afraid of us?"

The badger, known to everyone as big Mike, stepped forward and cracked his knuckles.

"Because if you were afraid of us, we'd be pretty upset."

Tails decided enough was enough. He stopped backing away and stood his ground.

"No I'm not scared, just annoyed."

The three of them laughed. They were clearly in the mood for a fight.

"Well in that case maybe we can help."

The badger lunged forward at tails, who without any effort, swept out of the way and returned the badgers blow directly to the face. He stumbled backwards, infuriated.

"Ok now you've done it! Lenny, Naomi, lets get him!"

"Do we really have to go through this again?"

The three of them attempted to surround Tails, who sighed at how stupid they were being. Like I said before, he didn't have any trouble with physical bullying. He had learned all his mechanical skills from Rotor and Sally, while Bunnie and Sonic had taught him how to defend himself. As the three of them ran at him, he jumped as high as he could, causing them to slam into each other. As they sat there, dazed on the floor, he sighed and walked off.

"Why'd Rotor have to recommend me to a school for stuck up snobs?"

That was chapter two. I'm glad that I got some reviews : ) thank you very much. I hope you leave some more. See you next time!


	3. Disloyality to the Prince

Tails just ran. He didn't even care where he was going; He just needed to get away from Robotropolis. How could Sonic be gone? After defeating Robotnik so many times how could he have just lost like that? How?

"Sally girl we gotta catch up ta him!"

Sally sat motionless on the floor. Bunnie walked up to her and shook her.

"Sally ah don't know what world ya think you're on but we gotta find Tails and get outta here!"

Sally shook her head and nodded. Without saying anything she ran out of the room after Tails.

After a while, tails was completely exhausted. His tails felt like lead weights and he knew he couldn't go on for much further. He lowered his altitude, landing at the opening to an alleyway. He crawled in between the walls, hoping that the Swat Bots that were still active wouldn't find him.

"Sonic's gone……………… what will happen to us now?"

"Tails? Are you there?"

Tails looked up and saw sally walking towards him, with sympathy in her eyes as she saw how scared he was.

"Why did you run off Tails? We weren't going to hurt you."

"Get away from me!"

Tails threw one of his shoes at the squirrel, which just ducked and continued walking towards him.

"Tails, we're your friends. You don't have to be scared. If you think we'd let the swat bots get you then you should know that we would never…"  
"Leave me alone! You think you're so brave but your not! You and all the others are worthless! Why didn't you come sooner and help? Why didn't you save him? WHY?"

Suddenly, Tails lost control of his thoughts. He lashed out at anything he could see, with a constant hounding pain in his head.

"Arrrrghhhh!!!!!!!!!!"

Leaving the bullies behind, it didn't take long for Tails to reach the school. He looked at his watch and was glad to see that he was early, which would mean that the other kids wouldn't get a chance to pick on him until first recess. He quickly ran inside, making his way to Rosie's office.

Although he knew Rosie was only at the school temporarily, he knew she really enjoyed being there. Ever since Robotnik's takeover he had been the last child she had had the chance to talk to since Sally and Sonic were kids. Then again, she had forgotten how cruel children could be and she did everything she could to make Tails feel safe, even though he usually got called a 'teacher's pet'.

He looked through the door and saw her sitting at her desk. He knocked and then let himself in when he saw her nod.

"Hi Rosie."

"Hello there Miles. Nice to see you."

Sally sighed as more and more documents were thrown at her by her officials.

"Are you sure that this many people are upset about it?"

"Yes my queen. Ever since it happened people have disagreed with your decision. Although the majority are still in your favour of course."

"But….. How can they say these things?"

Complaints. Every day she was bombarded with complaints. Sally had made sure that every decision she had ever made was supported by her subjects, apart from one: Tails.

According to some of the letters she was getting, people had seen Tails thieving and vandalising parts of the city, or that thought he was one of Robotnik's mutant creations. It had been almost a year and still people weren't happy about their queen adopting someone. The previous week in fact a drunken mother had managed to break into the palace and had made a protest herself.

"If you're just gonna take kids 'hic' in off the street then why dontcha take some a' mine? Or aren't they good enough for ya eh?"

She had been arrested and given professional help, but Sally could see her point of view. She had known Tails for years and he was as much a son to her as one of her own flesh and blood could be. But to everyone else he was just a normal child and it was unfair of Sally to take him in while there were other orphans starving on the streets. But what these people were doing was just ridiculous. Some of them were trying to turn her against him while others were trying to trick her. She hated to think what would happen if any of these people actually got their hands on Tails.

"Why can't they just accept him? Is this what we all fought for?"

"Is the machine ready?"

"Yes sir. With his help we'll all be able to get back and avoid the….. change."

"Very well, but make sure that _he_ stays here. He doesn't deserve to take the passage back to the city. Not after what he did to all those people."

"Whatever guys. Let's just do this quickly. I've been stuck down here long enough."

"Very well. Start up the dynamo!"  
One of the figures nodded and began to increase his speed. If this worked then they would all be getting out very soon.

"So really what I'm asking is, if I take another IQ test would I be able to graduate faster?"

Rosie looked through all her files, trying to find something that could answer Tails' prayers. Unfortunately, according to the rules only the principal could certify this, and there wasn't an acting principal to agree to it.

"I'm sorry Miles but until we find someone responsible enough to take over as principal you're stuck here."

Tails slumped back into his seat. He had a higher IQ than most of the adults in Mobotropolis and yet he wasn't allowed to leave school yet. He knew that if Rosie would just take the job as principal he would be able to leave all those kids behind and go help rotor or Uncle Chuck with their projects like he used to.

"What if I went to another school and took a test there?"

Rosie stared at the fox cub. She was saddened by the fact that ever since Sonic had been taken by the void he had seemed a little too eager to grow up.

"Don't try to grow up too quickly Miles. Sonic wouldn't have wanted that."

Tails just sat in silence.

"Miles? Are you ok?"

He didn't say anything. He just jumped off his chair and left the room.

"They all say that. 'It's what Sonic would have wanted', but they don't know what he would have wanted. And now none of us ever will."

Rotor worked silently at the void portal. He had been told to take it into lock up, but he had been secretly working on a way to get it working again ever since what happened to Sonic shut it down.

"Come on darn you! Why won't you start up?"

Suddenly, a strange blue light appeared in the middle of the portal. Rotor gazed silently at it. Not moving, he reached into his lab coat and pulled out his walkie talkie.

"Sir Charles, I think you'd better come down here and take a look at this."


	4. A hero's return

Five days later in Knothole, Tails was sitting in the medical hut's 'Time out room' as Sally liked to call it. Tails still hadn't come out of his delirium and everyone was starting to get worried, especially Sally.

She looked in at Tails through the window, with tears in her eyes. Rotor was beside her, making notes of anything Tails did, although he hadn't moved much since he had been given his pills.

"Is he going to be ok Rotor?"

The walrus shook his head in confusion.

"I don't know Sally. It'd be a lot easier if I knew exactly what caused the delirium."

Sally turned to Rotor, with a look in her eyes that said,' have you even paying attention?'

"He's obviously upset because of what happened to Sonic Rotor. I would've thought you'd know that."  
Rotor sighed. Although all of the freedom fighters had been hit hard, he still felt as if none of them understood each others grief. They all had a bond with Sonic and were sad to see him go, but why was it tearing them apart? When they had lost their families to Robotnik it had brought them closer, so why was this any different? Maybe it went deeper than that…

Suddenly, Tails leapt up from the floor and began banging against the window.

"Let me out of here! Let me go!"

Sally couldn't bear to look at Tails like this. He seemed so angry with the world. The words he had said to her,' you and all the others are worthless! Why didn't you come sooner and help? Why didn't you save him? WHY?' Did he blame himself for what happened or did he blame her? Was it her fault that Sonic was gone…..

Uncle Chuck stared curiously at the portal. Since Rotor had called him down to the lab, the light at its centre had been slowly growing and was now the size of Uncle Chuck's head.

"If this is a portal that was opened from the void itself Uncle Chuck, you don't suppose Robotnik's going to come back through it do you?"

Uncle Chuck stared at Rotor, who was shaking in fear.

"I doubt t Rotor. If Robotnik had the technology to return from the void he would have used it months ago. The only other people there are Ixis Naugus, who couldn't find his own way out anyway, the King and Sonic."

Rotor's face lit up. The last time they had entered the void it was Sonic's speed that had opened the portal back to Mobius. Maybe he was going to make it home after all.

"So what should we do? If I keep this area under surveillance twenty four seven we should see some results soon and…."  
"Help… me…"

The two of them stared at the light.

"Excuse me?"

"Help me….. We can… make… it…. Home…. Need …… power……."

Rotor stared deeply into the light, looking for some kind of face. He needed to make sure he wasn't being tricked. Uncle Chuck stepped forward.

"Who is this?"

"It's me…… guys…….. It's…. Sonic……."

In the car on the way back from school, Bunnie sat silently, hoping that Tails would at least talk to her. After he had gotten into the car he had completely ignored her when she asked how his day had been. He just stared silently out of the window. Why was he distancing himself from everyone?

"Tails, what's wrong Sugar?"

Just more silence. Bunnie figured that Tails would talk when he was ready to talk. He just hadn't been the same since the days of the freedom fighters finished.

Suddenly, there was a huge smashing sound and Tails felt a blunt object strike him in the back of the head. He fell to the ground crying, while Bunnie just stared in shock. Someone had thrown a brick through the window.

"Let's go guys!"  
Three men, all wearing dark masks jumped through the window into the car. They went straight for Tails.

"Hey! You leave him alone!"  
One of them turned to Bunnie and laughed.

"And who's gonna make us long ears?"

Everything seemed to freeze for Bunnie all of a sudden.

"Nobody………. Calls me……….. LONG EARS!!!!"

Bunnie leapt up and kicked the intruder who had insulted her square in the jaw, sending him flying into the others. They stared in shock as Bunnie walked towards them, cracking her knuckles.

"Ya might wanna look away Sugar."  
Bunnie ran forward and threw herself at them. She threw punch after frightening punch at the attackers, who didn't even dare to say they surrendered. A final blow sent them all into a wall, knocking two of them out. She grabbed the one that was still conscious and grabbed him by the neck. She lifted him up so that they were face to face.

"Now, ya'll are gonna tell me what you're doin!"

The man tore off his mask and threw it to one side. Bunnie was shocked to see a robotisized Mobian looking back at her.

"Emergency shut down commenced."

Suddenly, the robot went limp in Bunnie's grasp. Bunnie didn't say anything. She dropped the robot to the floor, then turned around and saw to Tails' wound. Sally wasn't going to believe this.

Back in the lab Uncle Chuck and Rotor were just about to proceed. They were sure that Sonic was calling to them from the void and that if they knew exactly what they were doing they would be able to get him out.

"Ready with the power ring Rotor?"

"Ready!"

Rotor held one of the most powerful items on Mobius in his hands. In the days of the freedom fighters it had gotten Sonic out trouble countless times and if they could get it to him then maybe, just maybe…

"I… need it…. Now…. I'm…. losing it."

Rotor nodded and then got ready to throw the ring to Sonic.

"You can do it buddy! Come home to us!"

Rotor threw it full force into the light, hoping that it would reach the hero that had given so much to save the world.

"Did it work?"

Uncle Chuck joined Rotor in front of the portal and they both stared into the light.

"Sonic? Can you still hear us?"

There was only silence. Rotor could feel tears forming in his eyes.

"I really thought we could bring him back….."

Uncle Chuck kicked the ground and cursed. When he had been a spy in Robotropolis he had hoped against hope that after the war he would be able to be with his nephew again. Why did Sonic have to be taken while he managed to stay long enough to see hat they had all been fighting for come to exist?

Suddenly, they heard a strange noise coming from the portal.

"Yeeeee………"

The two of them stared at each other, confused.

"What on earth does yee mean?"

"……Haaaaaa!!"

All of a sudden something burst forward from the light. There was a bright blue flash as it appeared, blinding both Rotor and Uncle Chuck.

"Did he make it through Sir Charles?"

Suddenly they both felt a soft tap on their shoulders. They turned around and saw a long lost hero standing before them.

"Sure did. I told you loads of times before Rotor, Robotnik never has and never will be able to get his fat robot hands on me."

Sally nearly collapsed when she heard the news from Bunnie. How could there still be robotisized citizens in Mobotropolis? Everyone had gone through the de-robotisizer. That could only mean one thing.

"And what about Tails? I he ok?"

Bunnie nodded.

"Yeah. I sent a doctor up to his room when we got back. He'll be fine."

Sally sighed with relief. Everything was falling apart around her, but she felt comfort from the fact that there wasn't any serious damage – yet.

"We need to find out where the robots came from and who robotisized them in the first place. Whoever it was, it must have been someone who's angry about me adopting Tails. Let's start with the people who sent those complaints."

Bunnie nodded, and then left the room. Sally collapsed onto her thrown and closed her eyes.

"Things were never this hard when all I had to deal with was Robotnik."

"Yeah, slow pokes like him always come in last place."

Sally looked up. She could recognise that voice anywhere.

"Sonic?"

The blue hedgehog stepped forward and smiled.

"Well, I've been gone for a year and I don't even get a hug?"

Sally ran forward and kissed Sonic right on the lips. There was no way in hell that she was ever going to let him go again.

"Oh Sonic…….. "

As she realised what she was doing, sally stepped back, blushing.

"What took you so long?"


	5. The easy way out

Hi! This is SatAMNerd15 with the latest chapter. I should just add that between the past scene and the present scene there's a (EF) sign, which means end flashback. I hope the story is easier to understand now. And just to make things interesting, who exactly do you think the villain is going to be?

New world, new problems – part 5

One week later, Tails had begun to recover. He was allowed out of the room where he had been kept by Sally and Rotor and had begun playing in the forest again, although everyone could see that he had changed – a lot.

As night drew closer, Tails sighed and decided to return to the village. Tomorrow they would begin to rebuild Mobotropolis. Sally would be the queen like they had always talked about. Except of course, when they had talked about the future before they had _all_ been part of it.

As Tails strolled through the woods back towards Knothole, he stared up at the sky and smiled.

"No more pollution clouds."

Even with his hero gone, Tails felt some comfort staring up at the sky. All through his life it had been a part of him. As well as his flying abilities, it had always been a kind of hope of his that whoever was up there was on his side, or that his parents might be looking down on him. Maybe they still were…..

"Tails! It's bed time honey!"

He looked around and saw Sally walking towards him, looking the same way as she always did. Did she even care that Sonic was gone? She still smiled whenever she was around him and she never talked about what had happened, at least not in front of him. Did she think he didn't understand or something? She stopped in front of him and grinned.

"Come on honey."

Tails nodded and walked after her towards his hut. He opened the door, ran inside and quickly slipped under the covers.

"What story would you like tonight?"

Tails stared up at his book shelf. All of them were filled with stories about courageous knights or princesses or some other people beating up monsters or saving kingdoms. He had noticed, only recently, that it all seemed too repetitive.

"How about the one where the prince and the queen and the king have to save their kingdom from that witch?"

Tails looked up at Sally and shook his head.

"No thanks aunt Sally. I think I'm starting to get a little old for those kinds of stories."

Sally was shocked. She had been reading those stories to Tails since she was seven and he was just a toddler. He had never been tired of them before.

"Are you sure honey? You always loved those stories. Remember how they always beat the bad guys and lived happily ever after?"

Tails shook his head, and then pulled the covers over his face.

"It seems silly Aunt Sally. Things don't really happen like that."

Sally was stunned. She whispered goodnight to Tails, although she was pretty certain he wasn't listening, and then quietly slipped out of the hut. She walked over to the power ring pool, then collapsed onto the log and sobbed.

Tails had always been curious. When he learned to walk and talk he would always walk around asking her and Sonic all sorts of questions. But whenever certain questions had come up such as,' Do you know where my mommy is?' or ,' Are we ever gonna get to live in the city like you guys used to?' they had always told him that they would beat Robotnik no matter what and that everything would be fine. But now Sonic was gone. This isn't what they had been looking forward to…

"Maybe Tails is right……"

(EF)

Tails sat alone on a bed in the palace infirmary. He was completely shocked by what had happened. He knew that some people were a little upset about sally adopting him, but someone was trying to kill him! And what's worse, whoever was after him had their hands on a robotisizer!

"Thing's just haven't been going well for the kingdom since all this started. If these people are just after me then maybe……"

Tails looked around the room. There was a glass of water on a table next to his bed, a closet full of sheets and the first aid box that the doctor had left behind when he told Tails to get some rest.

"Maybe there's something in there."

Tails climbed off the bed and walked towards the first aid kit. He opened it up, but all he could see in there were bandages and cough medicine.

"Damn it!"

"You should watch your language young prince."  
The doctor walked back into the room and looked down at Tails.

"I thought I told you to get some rest. And what, may I ask, were you doing with my first aid kit?"

Tails tried to think of an excuse, but then suddenly the doctor just picked him up and put him back on the bed.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"You disobeyed the doctor's orders. You should get some rest."

Tails backed away from the doctor as he set him down.

"You can't just do that without asking!"  
The doctor didn't say anything. After a few moments of silence, he turned to the glass of water, picked it up and handed it to Tails.

"Perhaps you just need a drink."

"Ummmm….. No thanks."

Tails was expecting the doctor to try and force it down his throat. For some reason he seemed more hostile than usual, although both Tails and Sally had only seen him a few times before.

"Very well then. I'll come and check on you later. Just make sure you get some rest, ok?"

As he saw the doctor leave, Tails couldn't help but go over what he had heard him say.

"The doctor's orders huh?"

Sally and Sonic had been talking for hours. Sally had wanted to know all about Sonic's time in the void: Had he met her father or Ixis Naugus? Was he going to turn to crystal if he stayed in Mobotropolis? Did he have any trouble from Doctor Robotnik while he was there?

"Yeah Sal. Ixis Naugus and your dad remembered me from the last time we all went there and I helped them work on a way to get out without turning to crystal. In a few weeks if I'm still normal I'll go back in and get them both out. As for Ro-butt-nik, when I woke up in the void I couldn't see him. No idea what happened to him."

"Sally's face lit up. Not only was Sonic back but soon her father would be too!"

"So anyway Sal, looks like you guys have done a lot of work since I left. What's everyone doing these days?"

"Well Sonic, Uncle Chuck and Rotor are my leading scientists. Antoine is my new war minister, Rosie is working as the principal of the most prestigious school in the city, temporarily of course and Bunnie is my lady in waiting."

"What about Tails Sal? I saw the look on the little guy's face when I was sucked into the void and since then I've been really worried about him."

Sally sighed, not knowing how to tell Sonic about all that had happened to Tails since that day.

"Well Sonic, when we finished rebuilding the city tails didn't have anywhere to go, so I adopted him and he's living with me in the palace."

"Well Sal, I gotta say that that kid couldn't have found anyone better to look after him while the blue streak was out of commission. Where is he anyway?"

"He's in the infirmary of the palace Sonic."

Sonic was surprised. In a peaceful world without Robotnik how could Tails have gotten hurt?

"What happened to him Sal?"

Sally shook her head.

"I'll tell you later Sonic. We have some trouble on our hands at the moment. But right now, I believe there's a certain little fox who been missing his big brother."

The two of them got up and walked out of the room, both of them eager to see the look on Tails face when he saw his hero again.

Up in his room, tails was preparing to go through with his plan. He looked out of his window: He was at least twenty stories up, so he was certain to succeed.

"With me gone all of this stuff will be cleared up; And no more being talked to like I'm a stupid kid."

He stood on his windowsill and took a deep breath, before closing his eyes and jumping. Unbeknownst to him however, a certain hedgehog had seen everything.

"Oh no! Hang on big guy!"

Sonic jumped after Tails and began running down the wall. He quickly passed Tails on the way down, who still had his eyes closed, and stuck out his arms as soon as he reached the ground.

"This is it……."

"I got ya big guy!"

Tails landed neatly in Sonic's arms, still keeping his eyes closed.

"Are you ok big guy?"

Tails opened his eyes and looked at Sonic.

"Is this heaven?"

Sonic laughed and hook his head. He was glad Tails was alright, but he had a feeling that whatever it was that had driven him to this must have been really bad.

"No, but you're in a way better place than wherever it was you where going."

Sonic sighed as Tails fainted in his arms.

"Looks like I won't have much time to relax after all."

Under sally's reign, the prisons in the great swamp had fallen into worse condition than they had been before. There just hadn't been a use for them, since there weren't many people guilty of crimes in Mobotropolis and so prisons there had plenty of space. Of course, this meant that anybody who wanted to disappear didn't have to look any further than Iron Lock Prison.

"Make sure the robo-rooms are up and running soon! I need this all to run smoothly or they might catch onto us. I don't want another failure to assassinate the prince either! Remember, these aren't just servants to the queen we're up against; they're freedom fighters!"


	6. Evil is stirring

Hello to you all, this is SatAMNerd15 with the latest chapter of new world, new problems. I'm sorry it took so long, but I've had a lot of coursework and tests to revise for. I hope you enjoy this chapter anyway though. This story does not contain a flashback scene, since I felt that I didn't need to expand on the prologue of the story anymore than I already have, although I am planning to conclude both sections of the story before I finish the series. And to anyone who is confused, I'm a guy : )

New World, new problems Part 6.

The next week was frantic. As soon as word leaked out from the palace that Sonic was back, almost everyone in Mobotropolis wanted to come and see him for themselves. Sally sighed as she saw the hedgehog speeding through the palace gates, with another mob of people chasing him with autograph books.

"Hey Sonic! Sign this!"  
"I want a picture!"

"I wanna shake the blue streak's hand!"

"Sorry folks! Gotta juice!"  
Sally couldn't help but laugh. It seemed like the only place Sonic had ever been free of fans was the void!

"Fame comes at a price I guess."

"It's worth it!"

Sally turned and saw Sonic panting in the door.

"Since when do you get tired?"

Sonic shook his head and laughed.

"The void isn't as big as everyone thinks. There aren't many places to go running."

Sally sighed. Sonic hadn't changed a bit.

"So, how what do you think of the city Sonic?"

Sonic's face suddenly grew more serious.

"The city looks great Sal, but there's just one thing I want to ask you about."

Sonic reached into his pocket and pulled out a small poster. Sally looked at it and was horrified at what she saw. There was a picture of Tails, with a message below it that read,'Down with the mutant prince'.

"I think it's time you filled me in on what's happened to the little guy while I've been gone."

* * *

Tails was running as fast as he could through the city, desperately trying to recover the speed he had strived to possess in the days of the freedom fighters. 

"I can't wait to go running with Sonic again."

He looked at the citizens of Mobotropolis as he passed them by. They didn't even notice the blur of orange fur as it slipped by them, which gave Tails much more confidence to keep going.

After Sonic left them, the freedom fighters had slowly begun to grow apart. Although they couldn't see it and most of them tried to keep their friendships going as they were before, tails could see that Duty to Mobotropolis had become first priority in their lives and as the only family he had ever known began to drift away from him, Tails had learned not to rely on them anymore. In a way, the loss of his childhood hero had ended his childhood, but with Sonic back Tails had hope in his heart that things would go back to being as they had been before. Tails began to rev up his two tails and as he let them thrust him into an even greater speed, he couldn't help but think to himself:

"When did I ever become such a slow – mo?"

* * *

Inside the main shopping centre of Mobotropolis, a mysterious figure stood waiting. He listened to the busy shoppers walking past him and laughed at how foolish they could be not to notice someone like him through their desire for shoes. 

"I am here master."  
The figure turned around and saw his spy bowing in front of him.

"Very good, did you manage to deal with the prince?"

The spy shook his head.

"I couldn't get him to take the poison sir. Things did however take a turn in our favour later. I saw the fox jumping from his window."

The figure smiled and placed his hand on the spy's shoulder.

"Very well done my friend. Although I must ask you, if he jumped from his window then why did I see him ten minutes ago racing through the city?"

The spy moved backwards, wanting to avoid his master's anger when he told him the bad news.

"Sir, I'm afraid we have a problem. The portal to the void was opened, but our master did not come through it as we had hoped. Sonic has returned sir."

The figure was beside himself with rage. Sonic's interference would ruin everything! But then, he though to himself: The prince was one of the people who were most dear to Sonic's heart, so maybe it would be best to proceed with their plans.

"We will proceed with the robo – rooms. I want them fully operational by noon. Mobotropolis shall be ours before the day is through!"

* * *

Back at the palace sally had called all of the former freedom fighters together. She had seen things getting bad and had been hoping that whoever they were dealing with would just fade away. But they wouldn't fade away. Whoever they were, they had a robotisizer and they were the ones who were stirring up hate towards Tails. She was smart enough to understand what was going on; they were trying to get to her through him. They knew that if beside herself with grief she would show little in the way of opposition to another take over not unlike Robotnik's, but they had made the mistake of making it personal. Anyone would have done the job. Sally felt compassion for all of her subjects, but bringing Tails into the conflict had crossed the line and whoever was causing the trouble was about to get what was coming to them. 

"I've called you all here not as my subjects or as my servants, but as freedom fighters. We stood up to tyrants like Robotnik everyday for the chance to live in peace and now that peace is being threatened by a new enemy. I'm not going to force you into anything, but I give to you this question: will you all fight with me again?"

There was a pause of silence in the throne room, which was surprising ended by the least expected person.

"Hui ma princess! I vill fight again!"

Sally stared at Antoine with a smile on her face. Even with a look of cowardice on his face she had always been able to see the loyalty shining through.

"Ah'm in too Sugar!"

"Count me in too Sally!"

Bunnie and Rotor stepped forward with Antoine to Sally's side. Gaze fell upon Sonic, who had been twiddling his thumbs at the far corner of the room. He looked up at them and grinned.

"What? You thought that after a year in the void I was gonna miss out on an adventure like this? Let's go teach those bozos a lesson!"  
The five freedom fighters nodded at one another, then proceeded out of the hall. Sally reached into her pocket and brought out NICOLE.

"NICOLE, scan for any signs of a robotisizer in Mobotropolis. I want to find these guys quickly."  
After a few seconds of beeping and flashing, NICOLE finally made her response: to the horrified expressions of the freedom fighters.

"A total of fifty robotisizers have been located in Mobotropolis and all are currently active."

* * *

Again, I'm sorry this chapter took so long. Like I said with life in the stables, it took me a while to finish my school work and now that I've gotten back into the swing of writing these stories I should have this one finished in less than two weeks. 


	7. The clone dictator

Here is the latest chapter. I told you that I'd finish it quickly for all you guys now didn't I? Lol, anyway I hope you enjoy it. This may or may not be the second to last chapter as I have at least three ideas on how to end this story. Who knows? I may even get a few ideas from your kind reviews, which I hope to receive some more of soon : ) anyway, enjoy!

New world, new problems – part 7

Sally and the others ran as fast as they could down the palace steps. Whoever was planning the next takeover, they had managed to fill the city with robotisizers and if they were active then Mobotropolis could be there's in a matter of hours!

"Antoine and Uncle Chuck, contact all man power we have at our disposal. Tell them to find those robotisizers and shut them down. If they encounter any Robians, tell them to use E.M.P weapons only. We don't want anyone getting killed. Rotor and Bunnie, you go and shut down the power supply to the city. Even robotisizers can't work without any power. Sonic, you're with me."

As the others ran off, Sonic raced forward and picked up sally in his arms.

"What's the plan Sal?"

Sally looked up at the hedgehog, and then held on to him as tightly as she could.

"We're going to find Tails and put an end to whoever's behind this. If the others fail, we'll be the only ones left who can save the day."  
"Just like old times eh Sal?"

Tails finally ran out of breath as he arrived in the shopping centre of Mobotropolis. He had been running all day long and he could already feel the difference. He felt like he could take on a whole army of Swat Bots by himself. He sat down on a nearby bench to catch his breath, when he noticed a strange sign hanging next to one of the department stores.

'Come in and try on our newest range of summer clothes. For one day, everything is at ten percent of the usual price.'

Tails was surprised to see how big the line was outside the store. It wasn't even summer and it looked as if half of Mobotropolis had turned up to buy clothes. Tails looked inside the window of the shop and was surprised to see that hardly anything was gone from the shelves.

"Weird. Where did all the customers go?"

Rotor and Bunnie ran as fast as they could into the lower parts of the main Mobotropolis power station. In the days of Robotnik it had been his main source of energy, which the freedom fighters had almost annually raided and shut down; so to Rotor and Bunnie, this looked like a job they could do in their sleep.

"There's the main reactor Bunnie!"

They stopped in front of a huge metal door. Behind it was the main nuclear reactor of Mobotropolis, of Rotor and Uncle Chuck's design so as not to cause any more pollution clouds. Rotor quickly typed in the key code and the doors slid open. The two of them hardly had time to react before they were pulled inside and knocked unconscious.

"Plan B is secure boss. We'll be ready to go through with it whenever you give the signal."  
"Excellent. I do believe it's time we started the show!"

Suddenly, the ground around Tails began to shake. He leapt up from the bench and looked around. It looked as if an earthquake was shaking the city to its foundations.

"What's going on?"

Tails tried to run for the door, but the vibrations tripped him and he was sent hurtling to the floor. He decided that the only way he was going to get out was by flying, so he revved up his tails and took off.

"Bio-species detected. Capture is first priority!"

Tails looked down and was horrified to see what looked like an army of worker bots below him, all of them looking up at him with a murderous glare. It looked as if half of Mobotropolis was down there…….

"The department store? They had robotisizers in a department store? I have to warn Sally!"  
Tails sped away from the army of robots, unaware that Sally was all too aware of what was going on and had just entered the store to find him.

"Tails? Tails where are you?"

"Where are ya big guy?"

Sonic and Sally looked around for Tails, hoping that they could find him before the mysterious villain did.

"Wait! Look up there!"  
They looked up and saw Tails flying through one of the open windows of the store.

"Damn! WE just missed him! Come on Sal, we have to catch up to him!"

"Princess Sally detected in immediate area. Extermination is top priority!"

They looked towards where the strange voice had come from and their jaws nearly dropped from their mouths. A huge army of worker bots were marching towards them.

"We're too late…."  
"You were too late to do anything as soon as Sonic came back through the void portal."

They looked up and saw a strange figure flying towards them using what seemed to be rockets on his shoes. He stopped just in front of them, then landed and laughed in their faces. He was a medium sized thin man, definitely human, with red hair that was cut short. His uniform was unmistakeable and sally and Sonic instantly knew that whoever he was, he knew Robotnik.

"Oh come now, you didn't think my father's legacy would end with his death did you?".

"Who… who are you?"

"My name is clone 261, but why don't you just call me, Robotnik?"

There he is, the villain! What will happen to Sonic and Sally? What has become of Bunnie and Rotor? Will Antoine and Uncle Chuck be able to get the city's forces together in time to launch a counter and will tails be able to save the day if all else fails? Find out in the next chapter!


	8. Return from the void

Snivley limped towards Robotnik's control room with what little strength he had left. Only minutes earlier, the freedom fighters had defeated his uncle and within days they would occupy Robotropolis; but Snivley and Robotnik had prepared years ago for such a problem.

"We will…… never be………… memories……….. Sir…."

He walked towards Robotnik's chair and entered in the code. Instantly the chair began to descend into Robotnik's personal lab, with Snivley sitting comfortably on top of it.

"'Sigh', if only we had held onto the city a little bit longer. Then that fat idiot would have been defeated and I could have been in charge."

The chair ground to a halt as it reached its destination. Snivley walked forwards, still clutching his wound.

"I failed in the end…"

He and the swat bots had tried desperately to stop the freedom fighters from breaching Robotnik's last line of defence, but they had been defeated as always by Sonic and Snivley had been severely injured in the crossfire. After a few minutes of limping forwards through the lab, Snivley found what he was looking for.

"There it is."

Snivley put his hands on a glass chamber and stared inside, seeing the creation that he and his uncle had tried so many times to perfect, currently in an eternal slumber waiting to be awakened. He typed in one final code to release him and then collapsed onto the floor. He saw the doors of the chamber slide open and the last thing he saw before he let death take him was his uncle's clone stepping into the world of the living, with a look of purpose and ambition on his face.

* * *

"Robotnik?"

The man in question bowed before Sally and nodded.

"That's what I said. I'm a new Robotnik, destined to continue my father's work. Starting with the destruction of the freedom fighters!"  
The 'New Robotnik' snapped his fingers and suddenly the whole army of worker bots continued their march towards Sally and Sonic, clearly not intending to take anybody alive. Sonic was ready to defend Sally at all costs.

"Duck ma princess!"

Sally and Sonic jumped to the ground as a blinding blue flash zipped past them. When they looked back at the worker bots they saw all of them motionless on the ground, and Antoine standing in front of them with some sort of firearm.

"Vee got ere as fast as vee could ma princess. Vee are ready to fight zis new Robotnique!"

The two of them stood up and looked behind them. The whole Mobian army were there, armed to the teeth with E.M.P. weaponry.

"Make sure you don't kill any of them Antoine….."

Antoine nodded, and then gave the order to attack. The whole army leapt into action as Sonic turned his attention back towards his new foe.

"As for this guy, he's mine!"

Robotnik's jaw had dropped when he saw his army collapse around him, but he wasn't about to let Sonic defeat him like he had defeated his father. As the blue hedgehog got ready to attack, he quickly pressed a button in his belt. As soon as Sonic struck his body, he was knocked backwards by an invisible force.

"You like it hedgehog? I call it the Robo–shield."

Sonic felt a horrible pain in his chest as he got back up.

"So it deflects attacks eh? No matter, I'll stick kick your butt!"

Robotnik continued to laugh as Sonic's pain worsened. The hedgehog fell back to the ground and screamed as he saw what was happening.

"Oh it's worse than you think hedgehog. It's called the Robo–shield for a reason. In a few minutes, you'll be a Robian!"

Sally gasped as she saw Sonic's flesh turning to metal. As a freedom fighter Sonic had used his abilities for good, but on the side of Robotnik they were all doomed!

* * *

Tails landed right in front of the palace and ran inside. Sally and Sonic would know what to do about the Robians.

"It'll be just like when they beat them before!"  
He made it into the throne room and looked around, but he couldn't see them anywhere. Come to think of it, the whole palace seemed deserted.

"Maybe they're down in Rotor's lab!"

Tails quickly made his way to the elevator and in seconds he was on his way down into the heart of Mobius, to the place where Rotor kept all of his inventions.

"I'll bet he has a lot of cool stuff down here."

The doors slid open and Tails found himself in the very room where Sonic had disappeared. Originally this had been Robotnik's secret lab, but after Rotor found it he had taken advantage of the technology and had been able to greatly speed up the restoration of the city. Tails knew he had to hurry and find help, but he couldn't help but stare in awe at all of the things Rotor had created. Soon though, his attention turned to the void portal, which was currently online. He made sure he was at a safe distance and then began his search.

"Here we go….. Your highness..."

Tails quickly turned back to the portal. He was sure he had heard someone talking from inside it.

"Ummm……. Hello?"

There was a flash of light and then suddenly two figures came tumbling out of the portal towards Tails, who quickly jumped out of the way. The dust cleared and the young fox instantly recognised them both.

"Ixis Naugus and King Acorn!"  
The two of them stood up and dusted themselves off, before looking down at the fox, confused.

"How is it that you know our names young man?" the king asked.

Tails shook his head and ran back towards the elevator.

"There's no time! Mobotropolis needs our help!"

The two of them shrugged, and then followed the fox. They were eager to see what could have caused so much trouble and at the same time they were itching with excitement to see how the city had changed.

* * *

Sonic had lost complete control of his limbs. Everything was robotisized except his face, but within seconds that would change too. He looked at sally and shouted to her.

"Sal, do whatever you have to do to stop this bozo! As soon as I'm changed tell Antoine to shoot me!"

Sally felt tears in her eyes. She couldn't bear the thought of hurting Sonic like that, but she wasn't about to deny him his wish. She nodded at Antoine, who got his weapon ready.

"I am sorry for zis Sonique."

The skin on Sonic's face turned to metal almost as soon as Antoine got his aim right. He fired his weapon at the hedgehog, confident that he would be able to fulfil his wish.

"Freedom fighters, priority one!"

Sonic disappeared and reappeared behind Antoine, before delivering a crippling blow to the back of his neck. Antoine instantly fell to the ground.

"I……… av…….. Failed……."

Sally couldn't believe what she was seeing. Sonic would never hurt anyone!

"Sonic, snap out of it! Your uncle fought it off and you can too!"

The robot ignored Sally's words and got ready to attack.

"Princess Sally is priority one. Capture and bring forth for robotisation."


	9. One last chance

Review time!

hmm... you know metal sonic was never destroyed permanently and shadow does exist in the archie universe, bot have reasons for not wanting sonic robotzyzed, i'd imagine that one of them would be aware of whats going on. really sonic would not be like metal if he was robotyzyzed!

I'm sorry if you think that this doesn't tie in with the Archie storyline, but there's a reason for it. This is based on what happened after the freedom fighters defeated Robotnik in the _SaTam_ universe, which as we all know was never explained since the third season never aired. I don't use metal sonic in my stories anymore and I've never used Shadow because I don't want to write SEGA fan fiction and I've never read an archie comic in my life (apart from on Sonic mega collection). I hope you understand the story now : )

2. Very cute, I assume they converted the dressing rooms in the department stores into robotisizers. Very clever, how many people actually look into those things before getting inside. I am impressed. And now Robotnik seems to be trying to take over by proxy. Can't wait to see what happens next, my only regret is that the story is so close to the end.

Don't be sad : ( I may or may not have ideas for more stories set in the future of the SaTam universe : ) The dressing room thing just came to me as I was writing. I personally don't look into them. Maybe the ones that are robotisizers in disguise are in the shops we never go into : S

So Sonic's a robot and Ixis and the King have returned? Gonna be very interesting to see how this ends. :)

Lol, I should hope so. I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Emotionally and without remorse, Sonic flung Antoine aside and proceeded towards Sally. She backed away from him, knowing full well what Robians were capable of.

"Sonic, don't you remember me? It's me! Sally!"

Sonic didn't respond to Sally's pleas. He just kept walking forwards as if he couldn't even hear her cries. Robotnik stood there, watching, with a triumphant smile on his face. He had won.

"After all these years princess, my father's creations finally overcame you and your freedom fighters."

Shaking, Sally reached into her pocket, searching for what she only ever used as a last resort. She pulled out a small, delicate pistol and aimed it at Sonic.

"I'm so sorry…."

Showing no fear in the face of Sally's weapon, Sonic continued forwards, outstretching his arms as he neared the princess.

"Princess Sally is priority one. Capture and bring forth for robotisation."

Sally fired the pistol and covered her eyes. She heard blast and struggled to keep it in her grip as she thought of what she had just done. She pulled her hand away from her eyes and looked towards Sonic. She gasped as she saw him running towards Robotnik, who was bleeding on the floor.

"I…. I missed?"

Sonic looked over his new master's wound, before lifting Robotnik to his feet. The would - be conqueror turned to Sally, his mocking face replaced with pure fury.

"This isn't over princess!"  
Robotnik reached into his pocket and removed some kind of electronic device that seemed to be modelled after NICOLE.

"You've only seen the tip of the iceberg!"

With Sonic still clutching him, Robotnik pressed a button on the device and instantly the two of them were teleported away.

Quickly, Sally got up and ran towards Antoine. She shook him, hoping against hope that he was ok.

"Antoine? Antoine! Wake up! I need you help!!!"  
Just as tears began to fall from Sally's eyes, Antoine began to stir. His eyes quickly opened and he sat bolt upright.

"Sonique! No! Ze princess! Ma Princess is….."

"Antoine!"

Sally slapped Antoine full force across the face.

"Snap out of it!"

Antoine froze for a moment and then shook his head. He looked over at sally and was overjoyed to see that she was ok.

"Ma Princess! You are ok! What appened to Sonique?"

Sally quickly pulled Antoine to his feet. She reached into the pocket on the side of her boot and pulled out NICOLE. As the computer beeped into life, Sally quickly began typing in commands.

"NICOLE, I need you to find out where Sonic went. Can you track him?"

"Ma princess, what appened?"

Sally was ignoring Antoine. She needed to know where Sonic was and once she knew she could explain everything to Antoine on the way there.

"_It appears that Sonic is currently in the Mobotropolis power plant, which has been showing unusually high activity in the past few minutes."_

"Then that's where we're going! Come on Antoine!"  
Sally ran for the door, with Antoine following closely behind her. He couldn't help but think to himself, 'Something is telling me that this will not be going vell."

The King and Naugus were still utterly confused as they entered the elevator with Tails. The young cub seemed unusually serious for a child of his age. It was almost as if he were preparing for a battle. The two of them shared nervous glances before King Acorn finally decided to inquire as to what was going on.

"My lad, what's wrong? Why did you say that the city needs our help?"

Tails quickly keyed in the destination for the elevator and then turned to face the king.

"Your majesty, I'm sorry that I didn't say anything. My name's Tails and I'm a friend of Sally's. I…"

"You know my daughter?"  
The king's face was suddenly aglow. He had been dying to meet more of his daughter's freedom fighters ever since his encounter with Sonic.

"Yes I do sir."

Tails suddenly regretted telling the king that he knew Sally. He had no idea how he would react when he learned that his daughter had adopted in his absence.

"Splendid! How do you know her?"

Tails gave an uncomfortable smile. Just as he was about to tell the king, Naugus spoke up.

"He must be friends with Sonic, sire. You see, he has matching sneakers. Now young man, what did you say was wrong with the city?"

Naugus gave Tails a wink and Tails gave a sigh of relief. He could finally get back to the task at hand.

"Well sirs, Mobotropolis has been peaceful for years now, but I saw an army of Swat bots in the city shopping centre! I think that Sally might be in danger!"  
The King's expression quickly dropped.

"Sally is in danger? Naugus, can you find her?"

Naugus gave the king a reassuring nod and raised his arms into the air, as if he was scanning for Sally. After a few minutes, he dropped them again.

"She's heading for the Mobotropolis power plant. I wish you had asked me to find them sooner sire."  
Tails and the king gave Naugus a puzzled expression as the elevator doors slid open.

"Why's that, my friend?"

"Naugus clapped his hands together and the three of them were suddenly surrounded by a dark blue light.

"Because from the looks of things she's in grave danger and we've wasted a lot of time in that elevator!"

Just as Tails was about to ask about how Naugus had managed to track Sally like that, the blue light flashed brightly and the three of them were gone. 

The doors slid open and Sally walked inside the Power plant, blaster drawn. Antoine followed closely behind her with his own weapon ready, but with a dreadful uneasiness that couldn't help but make Sally remember the days of the freedom fighters.

"Ok Antoine, Bunnie and Rotor should still be here. We need to find them first. With any luck they'll still be in the room that contains the main reactor."

"Oh… Wee ma Princess."

Knowing the route from her days as a freedom fighter, Sally led Antoine in and out of the dusty metal corridors until they reached the door they were looking for.

"Open the door NICOLE."

"Wait ma Princess!"

Antoine held out his arm in front of Sally and walked towards the door. He put his ear up against it to check to see if he could hear anything.

"Antoine, what's wrong?"

"Ah have only just realised it Myself Princess, why would Bunnie and Rotor stay here all zis time when they know we may av needed backup?"  
Sally gasped as she realised what Antoine's words meant. Had Rotor and Bunnie been captured too?

"Ok then Antoine, ready your blaster in case they really are in trouble and I'll open the door."

Antoine nodded and stepped back from the door. He aimed his blaster directly at it, as if he knew where the enemy would be. Sally gave her command to NICOLE again and the doors slid open.

A mocking face greeted the two of them, along with an army of Robians.

Tails arrived at the power plant with the King and Naugus mere minutes after Sally and Antoine and all tails could think about as the three of them began to navigate the corridors was that he somehow knew things weren't going to go well.

"Wait, you two are unprotected."

There was a look of deep concentration on Naugus' face as he held out his palms. Then, out of thin air, two laser weapons appeared in his hands. He handed them to the King and Tails.

The young fox looked uneasily at the weapon and began to shudder. He had never held a weapon before in his life.

"Thank you Naugus; cautious always. Now, onwards!"  
The king and Naugus broke into a run, with Tails following behind them. Somehow, knowing that Sally was in danger seemed to give the King and Tails a mental map that showed them where they needed to go., although in reality it was probably the same magic Naugus had used to track sally to the power plant that was guiding them.

The corridors seemed to grow darker as the three of them continued through them. For a second, Tails imagined himself in a Robotropolis dungeon, waiting for Sonic to come and rescue him. No matter how dangerous it had been he had always known that Sonic would come for him. He had always had so much faith in him.

"Time to return the favour."

"What was that my lad?"  
Tails shook his head back to reality; he must have been talking to himself because the King and Naugus were staring at him as if he had something stuck to his face.

"Oh, nothing."

Naugus nodded and pointed forwards.

"Good, because we have arrived at our destination."

Before the three of them stood a large metal door. Naugus raised his arms and placed his hands together, before muttering a spell in some strange language and pulling them apart, commanding the door to open.

"Aunt Sally?"

"Princess?"

"Bean, are you there?"  
A blinding light engulfed the three of them. The last things Tails could remember were cold, metal hands picking him up and marching into the room, from which terrifying laughter echoed around the power plant and the city beyond.


	10. In Knothole again end of saga one

Hello, this is SatAMNerd15 with the final chapter of new world, new problems. It has an ending I don't think any of you were expecting so have fun trying to guess and before we begin the story, it's time for some review replies!

I want to see Max face after he discoveires certain things.

Oh damn! I forgot to put that in : ( Oh well, I'll have to put something about it in later on in the storyline. I hope you enjoy this anyway : )

Oh joy, everybody is captured! I fully expect Tails to go mad and blow everything up. Kind of a short chapter, but hey- you're still working on it. Anyways, I wonder what will happen to them all in the next chapter. Rotor and Bunnie I know are going to be roboticized, Robotnik and Sonic are probably going to be there, and Tails, Ixis, and the King are probably going to open a can of whoop-$$ when they awaken. Still, though... how did Sally miss at that range? Best of luck, mate.  
Deluxe489

Hmm. Well that was the idea originally but then I decided to change things so that I could make it a little more dramatic and maybe even write a follow on from this story. Sally probably missed because Sonic sped out once the door opened and grabbed her weapon : )

Must... read... MORE!!

Amen to that! Enjoy this chapter : )

"I can't wait until you beat Robuttnik tomorrow Sonic! I really wanna see Robotropolis like it used to be!"  
Sonic laughed and rusted Tails' hair as they waited patiently for a power ring to surface from the pool that contained the machine that generated them.

"I can't wait either big guy. Sal will be back on the throne and Uncle Chuck won't have to spy anymore!"

"And I'll finally be able to find my parents!"

Sally nearly choked on the chilli dog he had been eating as e heard Tails' words. That was the one thing that he was unsure of. They had never found anything to suggest that Tails' parents were dead, but then again there wasn't any evidence that they were alive either. Tails must have read Sonic's mind, because his face fell.

"I will though, won't I?"

Sonic put a reassuring hand on Tails' shoulder and smiled.

"Sure you will big guy."

"But what if I don't?"

Tears began to from in the young fox's eyes. It wasn't fair; Sally had her father and Sonic had his Uncle Chuck, but without his parents Tails had no family at all.

"Hey, don't worry!"  
Sonic pulled Tails into a hug and let the cub cry into his blue fur. There wasn't any way he would ever let Tails end up alone after all they had been through.

"Me and Sal won't just forget about you when she's queen. Besides, there are thousands of worker bots in Robotropolis. Robuttnik wouldn't throw any of them out; he's too lazy to do any work himself. We'll find em big guy, don't worry about a thing."

Tails looked up at Sonic, through watery blood shot eyes.

"You never get scared Sonic, huh?"  
Sonic grinned and lifted the cub onto his back. Even if he had to come back and wait for a power ring, Tails had to go to bed.

"Robuttnik won't ever scare me big guy because I know that if I ever need help you'll be there."

A small smile grew on Tails' face as Sonic carried him back to his hut. He fell asleep before his head hit his pillow.

"Next week you'll be fallin asleep in the palace big guy."

Sonic took one last look at the cub and then closed the door behind him, leaving Tails to sleep. He slowly walked back to the power ring pool, which was now lit up by the moonlight, and sat down. He couldn't help but ask himself if he would ever need to use a power ring ever again once Robotnik was gone.

Tails awoke in what he instantly recognised as Rotor's lab. He was pinned to the wall by several Robians, all of which held bloodthirsty expressions on their face.

"Finally, the prince is awake."

The young fox saw Robotnik approaching himself with an utterly triumphant face. Tails looked around to see why and was horrified at what he saw.

All of the former freedom fighters, apart from Sonic, were tied up and out cold. Bunnie and Rotor both had huge purple lumps on their forehead where they had been knocked out and Antoine's face was covered in deep crimson blood. The only one of them that looked as if they had been unharmed was Sally and Tails was overjoyed to see that she was beginning to stir.

"Don't you ignore me!"  
Tails felt Robotnik grab the top of his head and turn it around to face him. The horrible evil that shone from his eyes made Tails feel as if he were a four year old cub again yelling for someone to get a huge spider out of his room.

"I want your full attention my dear boy!"

"Who the hell are you?"  
Tails struggled violently against the Robians who seemed to need to use little effort to hold him down. Robotnik clicked his fingers and the Robians lifted him up, still keeping his arms and legs bound together.

"Oh I would have thought that the young fox prodigy would have figured that out by now. Now, since I'm dying to get back to my beautiful city I'll hurry this up."

Four Robians walked towards the bound freedom fighters, each standing in front of one of them. Robotnik grabbed Tails' face and pointed towards them and then to what Tails was sure was to be their fate.

Standing ready behind them, just as Tails, Max and Naugus had left it, was the portal to the void.

"No! You can't do that to them! I won't let you!"

Robotnik simply ignored the fox's pleas.

"Since it would be rude to deny you a last request….."

Tails had to use all of will not to cry with fear as Sally began to open her eyes.

"Robotnik…."

"…. Which of these freedom fighters would you like to see die first?"

"Charles! Now!"  
There was an earth shattering blast all around them as the room filled with a blinding blue light. The Robians that were holding Tails suddenly collapsed.

"Get off me!"  
Tails kicked Robotnik as hard as he could in the chest, causing him to let go. As soon as he hit the ground he dashed towards the freedom fighters and began to untie them. Just as Tails remembered the other Robians around the freedom fighters he saw that they too, as well as every other Robian in the room, had collapsed as well.

The would - be conqueror's face began to go red with rage and shock.

"Who dares?!?!?!"  
"That 'ud be me!"

Tails looked up and was both shocked and overjoyed to see Uncle Chuck leaping at Robotnik and holding him down.

"Uncle Chuck, what…"  
The aging hedgehog glared at Tails with a frighteningly serious expression.

"As soon as that EMP blast wears off the portal is gonna open! Get everyone away from that thing!"

Without waiting for further instructions, Tails untying his friends as quickly as he could. He looked down and saw that Sally was trying to get up.

"Aunt Sally!"

Sally shook her head and pointed towards her boot. Knowing instantly what she meant, Tails reached down and pulled it off. Sure enough, hidden in the sole was a small hunting knife.

"Hold on!"  
He cut Sally free first and then handed her the knife.

"You do the rest Aunt Sally. I need to help Uncle Chuck!"

"He needs a lot more help than you can give him!"

Tails turned to see Robotnik holding a blaster up against Uncle Chuck's head. The hedgehog looked more worried than Tails had ever seen him. He could tell that the EMP device was about to wear off.

"Tails! Sally! You've got less than two minutes! Max and Naugus warped some of us to Knothole before you got captured! Go to them!"  
"KNOTHOLE VILLAGE?"

Robotnik delivered a swift kick to the back of Uncle Chuck's neck, sending the elderly hedgehog to the floor. He stomped towards Tails and sally, full of rage.

"The one thing my father failed to learn about the freedom fighters! Tell me where it is! NOW!!!!!!"

Tails looked at sally, still trying to cut the others free. She nearly had Bunnie free from the ropes. He had to give her what little time they had.

"You think you've got a better chance of us telling you? Who do you think you're talking to?"

Tails was begging himself to be brave as he stepped forwards to shield Sally. Robotnik was aiming his blaster.

"I have this city in my clutches you stupid rodent! You and your friends ill be dead in seconds! Give me Knothole's location and I swear to give you a quick and painless death!"

Tails wasn't backing down. He felt Sally squeezing his hand, giving him support.

"Aunt Sally, keep trying to get them free. We'll get out of this."

Robotnik's insane laughter hurt Tails' ears.

"You think you can escape me?!?!?! You'll be sucked into the void in less than thirty seconds! What, you think you can beat me on your own? Who do you think you are, Sonic!?!?! He's part of my army now!"  
Tails' heart sank. He had no idea what had happened to Sonic. He looked at Sally, hoping to find some sign that it was a lie. Her face confirmed his fears; his hero was gone.

"Sonic…"

Everything seemed to freeze around Tails. It was all happening again. Robotnik had taken Sonic from him again and this time he would die too. He had failed to save the freedom fighters, he had failed to save Mobotropolis and he had failed to save himself. Robotnik was right. He was no Sonic the hedgehog.

"NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The young fox cub felt as if his rage had taken the crushing force of a tsunami. He squeezed Sally's hand tighter and then grabbed her knife. He cut furiously away at the rope, as if he still had time to save his friends.

"Time to go Miles!"

His mind suddenly cleared. That voice wasn't Robotnik's……

Sonic, Tails, Sally and the others were all freedom fighters again. Tails was a young fox kit and the others were old twelve years old. They had just come back from their first mission in Robotropolis and Tails wanted to hear about it over and over again, much to Sonic's delight.

"Then a whole bunch of Swat bots came at us! I juiced out of the city as fast as I could and the others got away in one of old Robuttnik's own Stealth bots! You shouldda seen it!"

"Wow! I wanna come next time!"

Sally laughed and patted Tails on the head. She bent down and gave the young fox a kiss on both cheeks and then the tip of his nose; it always made Tails giggle.

"Sorry honey but it's a little too dangerous for you. Maybe when you're older."

Tails' heart sank. That was what she always said.

The days seemed to flash past like lightning as an older Tails stood there, staring at what had once been. Finally, he saw himself and Sonic standing by the power ring pool. His young self looked up at his hero, eyes full of admiration.

"Sonic, do you think I can be as brave as you one day?"

Sonic looked down at the young cub and smiled. He opened his mouth to answer, but before Tails could hear the words he was so very desperate to hear, everything went dark.

He was back in the present.

He rubbed his eyes and began to wonder what had happened. Hadn't he just been in Robotropolis? Hadn't he just been about to meet his doom? But then, he was back in Knothole with the others again. Where was he now?"  
"Ugghhh….. I'm getting too old to be doing this…"

Tails looked down and saw an exhausted Ixis Naugus lying face first on the ground. Tails quickly ran to help him up.

"Naugus, what happened? Where are we?"  
Naugus began to cough loudly as Tails pulled him to his feet. Whatever he had just done, it had taken a lot of effort.

"Knot… Knothole."

Tails nearly dropped the old wizard in shock. He looked around and saw the meeting hut, Rotor's workshop, his old hut, the cafeteria: he really _was _back in Knothole!

"But, how? Why?"

"Uggh… Tails… No… Don't hurt him…."  
Tails looked down felt feelings of both great joy and shock as when he saw Sally and Bunnie struggling on the ground.

"Sally! Bunnie! Naugus, what did you do? Are the others ok too?"

The young fox suddenly found himself full of delight. Even if he had failed to save Mobotropolis maybe someone else had stepped in at the last minute! Maybe everything was ok! But, as he looked into Naugus' eyes to see if he was correct, he was horrified; something was wrong.

"But, where's Rotor? Where's Antoine?"

"If they're lucky, the void. If they're not, the robotisizer."

Before Tails could ask anymore questions, Naugus put a hand to the young fox's mouth.

"Max and I escaped before you were captured and we brought everyone we could to Knothole. We managed to contact Sir Charles and he went to save the rest of you and I arrived as soon as I could to help but….."

The realisation seemed to be pounding the inside of Tail's skull. Everything wasn't fine, everyone hadn't gotten away, and nobody had come to save them…

"I rescued you, Bunnie and the Princess but I was lucky to do that. The others are lost and the few we could rescue are in the meeting hall with the King."

Sally and Bunnie began to push themselves up to their feet. Sally gazed at Naugus.

"Please tell me you're lying."

There was a silence that seemed to last an eternity before Sally broke down and wailed at the top of her lungs.

It had been five months since the second Robotnik's take over and everyone was still finding it hard to deal with. Sally had been the worst, but now it seemed that she was more determined than she had ever been to reclaim the city. Bunnie was behind her on everything, since she was just as eager to see her husband again. Of course the help of the king and Naugus was making things go faster than they would have, but it couldn't be denied that without Sonic, nobody was as they had been in the days after the first take over.

Tails spent whatever time he could in the woods, trying to remember the spots where he used to play and explore, but it was all gone. Any innocence he had had left him once they had returned to Knothole. As far as he was concerned he was an adult now and he was going to be a part of the freedom fighters this time around whether Sally approved or not.

Suddenly, there was a small, weak cry. Tails turned to where it had come from and saw some small bushes rustling about five feet away from him.

"Huh?"

Tails walked towards the bushes and pulled them apart. Expecting to find an injured animal, instead he found a pile of old rags that looked as if something had been hastily hidden beneath them. He reached out to touch them and felt something moving underneath.

What's this?"

He quickly removed the rags and lifted away what he had found.

"Huh? There's a note as well."

Still clutching what he had found, he reached down and picked up the hastily written note that was still half buried under the rags.

It said:

'_Whoever finds him, please take care of him. We just wouldn't be able to bear handing him over to the Swat bots if we're captured. If you choose to take him in, know this: there are still people fighting Robotnik and some day he'll lead you to them._

_Bless you.'_

Tails smiled and carried away the small silver infant hedgehog that he held in his arms. It was amazing, after all that Tails had been through, that it could be so calm. Then again, from Tails' experiences with hedgehogs he hardly found it surprising.

"It just wouldn't be the same without a hedgehog in Knothole. Maybe you'll be a hero, just like him some day."

The infant began to smile weakly as Tails opened the secret entrance to Knothole and climbed inside.

"Although nobody could ever be as great as him. Nobody….."

Bet you weren't expecting that! Ha! Yep, there's gonna be another story that follows on from this one and it's going to include two new characters that I've recently come to like. It may be a while before I put it up, but when it goes up on I hope you enjoy it!


	11. Same old excuses

Hi, this is SatAMNerd15 with the latest chapter of new world new problems. This chapter begins the next part of the story that starts to take place 3 months after Mobotropolis is taken over by Robotnik again. I've worked quite hard on this and so I hope you enjoy it. Please read and review!

New World, new problems part 11.

It had been three months since Tails had brought home the infant hedgehog and he was already making his mark in Knothole. Having him around seemed to lower everyone's stress levels and soon the remaining freedom fighters began to discover how working slowly and calmly was getting a lot more results than rushing all their plans.

Bunnie seemed to be the most effected out of everyone. Without any experience of his own with kids, Tails had gone to his 'Aunts' for help and Bunnie had said that she'd be happy to take care of the infant before the question had even finished leaving Tails' mouth.

Bunnie had been grieving the most out of everyone after Mobotropolis had been taken by Robotnik again; even more so than Sally. Although Tails, Sally, Bunnie, Naugus and the king had escaped with whoever they could, nobody had any idea whether Rotor and Antoine were alive or dead. Having just married Rotor, Bunnie had felt as though a huge void had been left in her life.

And so, moments after entering the village of Knothole the infant had found a family of sorts. However, one thing that seemed to annoy Tails though was the fact that since the baby hadn't been left with any clue as to what his real name was or any clue as to where he came from the people that were apparently 'still fighting against Robotnik' might as well have been ghosts.

Still, without a name the orphan had caused a lot of confusion. As soon as Bunnie had agreed to take him in she had started suggesting names. Then, as it had with Tails, a nick name had stuck.

One his first night in Knothole, Bunnie had been sitting with the infant beside the power ring pool. As the moonlight had reflected off of the surface of the water she looked down at the sleeping hedgehog. Sonic had earned so many 'titles' as he had called them: 'the blue streak' had been his favourite simply because it was all people had seen as he had sped past them. Bunnie stared at the hedgehog's fur. It was a light, shining grey that seemed to reflect the moonlight the same way as the pool did. Deciding to call it a night, Bunnie had turned to take the child back to her hut and whispered:

"Ah'll call you Silver little guy."

3 months on, Silver had become a part of Bunnie's daily life. Much to Sally's annoyance, Bunnie hardly had any time for planning missions and she often had to miss meetings to take care. On the other hand, this presented a very good opportunity for Tails.

Tails, now 12 years old, was on his way to the meeting hut, where Sally was currently talking with the other freedom fighters as well as the King Max and Ixis Naugus. He knew that if Bunnie couldn't remain on the main team and since they were in need of a skilled mechanic to replace Rotor, Tails had a very good chance to getting Sally's permission to go along on missions.

He took a deep breath and then knocked on the door. He was allowed to attend meetings, so he would be able to go in without any arguments and then he would just have to raise the subject of how many new members were needed for the main team.

"Come in!"

Tails opened the door and walked inside. The meeting hut seemed a lot bigger lately to Tails; most probably because only four people were inside: Sally, the King, Naugus and a young woman cat whom Tails didn't recognise. Sally looked up at Tails and smiled.

"Go ahead and sit down honey. We're almost done here."

"Well actually Sally…"

Just as Tails was about to ask Sally about joining the teams, King Max raised his voice to the fox.  
"Please sit down my lad."

For some reason, having both Sally's and her father's gazes upon Tails made him feel as if his legs were jelly. He sat down without another word as Sally continued the meeting.

"And so it seems to me that our main priority is to find a way to access the main computer in Robotropolis. If we're lucky we'll be able to find Rotor's plans for a de-robotisizer."

"Makes sense to me Princess. When do we leave?" said the cat in a high, peppy voice.

Tails looked up at the cat. She looked around twenty years of age, with strange purple fur. She wore a long dark blue shirt that came down to at least two inches below her waist. Tails could barely make out a pair of black running shorts that came down to just below the shirt.

Sally turned to the cat and shook her head.

"I'm afraid we still have a ways to go, Scorch. It's all well and good making a basic plan but we don't have the man power to carry it out yet. We'll also need some help actually building the Robotisizer if we manage to get the plans as well. For this reason, we'll need to carry out more recon missions before we can begin making any real plans."

"Umm, Sally?"

Sally looked back at Tails.

"Yes Tails?"

Tails struggled to find enough courage to stand and face Sally. He knew she would never hurt him (and at his age he was no longer sure if he would be able to) but he was still worried about upsetting her.

"Since you brought up how we need more manpower I want to….. I… I want to volunteer myself for the main team."

There was a silence in the hut. Max and Naugus, having seen how Tails could act under pressure, seemed to be considering his proposal. Sally however, seemed too shocked to speak.

"Tails, I thought we went over this already. You're just too young to…"

"But you were my age when you were on missions! You know I'd be a great member!"

"I think he has a point dear." Said King Max, looking at Tails as though he were a grandson asking for his allowance.

Sally's mouth fell open as she heard the King's words.

"He seemed quite capable before we had to flee the city and he certainly has the brains to be an invaluable member of the team."

Naugus and Scorch both nodded. Tails knew that he could count on Naugus' help, but he was sure that Scorch just wanted to get to planning more missions.

Everyone turned to Sally, who seemed rooted to the spot.

"Of course dear, it's all up to you."

Max put his hand on Sally's shoulder, trying to give her enough support to speak. She seemed to be too overwhelmed with how everyone was taking Tails' side to make a decision.

"Aunt Sally….."

Sally felt as if she should shake her head and send Tails to his room for disobeying her. When had he gotten so……. grown up? Wasn't he still just a fox cub? Just yesterday hadn't he been struggling to learn how to spell his full name properly? Hadn't he only just learned to fly a few hours ago? Hadn't he only just begun calling her Aunt Sally?

"I… I'll think about it. Meeting adjourned."

Without saying anything, the others filed out of the room, leaving Sally and Tails alone. She looked up at Tails, clearly not considering his proposal but still trying to let the young fox off gently

"Tails, I just don't want you to get hurt. I'll think about it but…"

"I want to help Sonic and Rotor and Antoine and everyone else! Didn't you just want to help everyone you'd lost to Robotnik the _first_ time he took over?"

At that, Tails ran from the hut.

Bunnie and Scorch were sitting beside the power ring pool. It was late afternoon and they knew that soon a power ring would appear in the water. Silver was sitting on Bunnie's lap, staring into the water. Scorch was sitting silently, with a small one year old kitten asleep on her shoulders. Bunnie had been babysitting Scorch's daughter while she had been in the meeting and by now the kitten was completely tired out.

"Ah really appreciate the help Scorch. Ah aint had much experience with babies in about 11 years."

Scorch smiled at Bunnie and then at the small hedgehog in her lap.

"No problem Bunnie, I was glad to help. Besides, having a playmate has really calmed Blaze down. She used to be bouncing off the walls 24 7!"

Bunnie laughed and lifted Silver up. She looked back at the kitten and thought of her being Silver's 'playmate'. Blaze had light purple fur and a young, thin body. She was wearing a long, thin blue dress that matched her mother's and came down to her feet. Under the dress she wore small knee length jeans and black sandals. She was only a year older than Silver, but she was already much bigger. Compared to Blaze, Silver was the size of a doll but Bunnie was confident that he would catch up to her in no time.

"Ah don't know if he's really old enough to be her playmate Scorch. After all, Ah think he still doesn't know who Ah 'am."

Scorch rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Oh please Bunnie, he knows you're his mom. Here, try handing him to me."

Bunnie shrugged and then handed Silver to Scorch. As soon as he had left Bunnie's hands he began to scream. Bunnie quickly took him back and whispered to him to calm him down. She cradled him in her arms and began singing to him. Within seconds, he had fallen asleep.

"See? Kids that young always want to stay with their parents. Look how he's taken to you already! You're a natural!"

"Heh heh. Thanks Scorch. Ah think Ah should take him back to mah hut and leave him in his crib. Ah'll be back in a sec."

Scorch stood up and shook her head.

"No, I'll come too. Blaze is really tired out. You think the crib's big enough for the two?"

Bunnie giggled and began to walk towards her hut.

"Sure, why not."

Tails got to the power ring pool around 2 minutes later. He hadn't looked back since he had left the meeting hut in case Sally was trying to follow him and explain for what seemed like the thousandth time how he should let 'grown ups' deal with Robotnik. After all the danger he had been through in his short life he was sick and tired of being treated like a child.

He slumped down on the log next to the pool, stared down at the water and began to think deeply to himself.

"How can she still say I'm too young after all this time? She started fighting Robotnik when she was ten! I'll bet Sonic would get me on the main team if he was still here…"

Tails suddenly began to breathe deeply as he thought of Sonic. In his last hours in Mobotropolis he hadn't seen what had become of his hero. Robotnik had told him himself that Sonic was 'part of his army' and when Tails had asked Sally what had happened she had just burst into tears. It had taken weeks before she managed to confess to Tails that Sonic had indeed been robotisized.

However, Tails' experience with Robians told him that he shouldn't worry. Uncle Chuck had managed to break free of Robotnik's control through sheer force of will and Sonic's will power was stronger than anyone else Tails had met. He knew he'd see Sonic again someday; and on that day the two of them would take down Robotnik together – with or without Sally's approval.

"I'll see you soon Sonic."

As Tails began to lose himself in his thoughts, he saw a faint glow emitting from the middle of the pool. A power ring was rising to the surface.

Ever since their return to Knothole the freedom fighters had been collecting power rings, just in case they ever needed them. Nobody could fully unlock the power inside the mystic rings apart from Sonic and so they were just kept in storage as an emergency supply of power. As the ring began to fully emerge, Tails got ready to pick it up.

"Oh, hey Sugar."

"What's up Tails?"

Tails looked back and saw Bunnie and Scorch standing behind him. Silver and Blaze were nowhere in sight, which explained why the two of them were looking more relaxed than Tails had seen them in weeks. Tails slowly reached backwards towards the ring as the three of them talked.

"Hey Bunnie, hey Scorch. Nothing's up, I was just reaching in to get the power ring- ahhh!"

Tails fell head first into the pool. Bunnie gasped as he hit the water but Scorch couldn't stop herself from laughing, especially as Tails got out of the pool dripping wet with the power ring in his left hand.

"Ha ha, very funny Scorch."  
"You got that right Tails! You look like a drowned rat!"

Tails laughed off Scorch's joke as he shook himself as dry as he could. Bunnie reached forwards and pulled Tails onto the bank.

"Tell ya what Sugar, come back ta my hut and Ah'll get ya a towel."

Tails nodded and followed Bunnie to her hut with the power ring still in his hand.

"Th… thanks B…. Bunnie That w... W…. water was f… F... freezing."

As Tails walked into Bunnie's hut the smell of talcum powder filled his nostrils. Bunnie's hut looked a lot smaller than it had done before. It now contained a crib and a changing table as well as a small playpen for Silver, who was asleep in the crib with Blaze. Tails recognised a lot of the stuff in the room from his younger days in Knothole. He didn't know why, but it felt nice to see that Bunnie had kept all of it.

"Just sit down over there Sugar and Ah'll get a towel."

Tails sat down on a chair beside the crib where the two infants were snoozing quietly. Tails was amazed that Bunnie could be so calm these days. She had been through just as much loss as he had and on top of that she had a baby to look after!

"Wow Bunnie, you're doing really well."

Bunnie turned and smiled at the fox.

"Well thanks Sugar. Ya know Ah wasn't sure about takin' in Silver at first. After all, before him you were the last baby Ah'd taken care of."

Tails tried desperately to stop himself from blushing as Bunnie laughed and handed him the towel. He set down the power ring and began drying himself off.

"When we get Rotor back I'll bet he'll love having a son."

Tails looked back up at Bunnie and instantly regretted saying this. Her face had gone completely pale and he could see tears forming in her eyes.

"Bunnie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean…."

Bunnie shook her head and managed a small smile.

"Don't worry Sugar. Ah'm still a little shaken. Ah mean, maybe if Ah'd grabbed him before ol' Naugus brought us back then….."

Bunnie put her face in her hands and began sobbing into her fur. Tails put down the towel and brought her into a hug and felt her shiver as his cold fur touched hers. Even if he hated being treated like a child, he hated seeing his Aunt Bunnie unhappy even more.

"Bunnie, I swear on my life that I'll get Rotor and Sonic back; Antoine as well if I have the time. In return I never want to see you upset as long as you can help it. I want Silver to be as happy as I was growing up here."

Bunnie smiled and wiped away her tears. She looked as though she was about to thank the young fox, but suddenly a look of utter shock swept across her face. Tails turned and saw Silver out of his crib, playing with the power ring that Tails had set down.

"Oh mah stars! Be careful Sugar! "

"Don't worry Bunnie, I'll get him."

Tails ran towards the playing infant and took the power ring from his hands. Silver began to cry as Bunnie picked him and tried to calm him down. Tails was about to thank Bunnie for the towel and leave, when he saw something strange – the power ring was glowing!

"What? But these only react with Sonic's DNA! Why is it glowing?"  
Thousands of thoughts on how to use the ring now that its power was unlocking itself in his hands, but just as he was about to decided how to use it the glow went out and it was just as it had been. He looked over to the crying infant in Bunnie's arms.

It couldn't have been Silver that the ring was reacting to, could it?


End file.
